


Issue #1

by alianovnaromanova



Series: A Little Corner of Hell's Kitchen [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: F/F, I love Kate so much its not even funny, Kate Centric Drabbles, Kate works at a comic book store, Kate's Life, Kates POV, M/M, Marvel characters read DC comics, Stucky if you squint, Wade is a lil shit, and im not that good at writing, comic store au, this is a trainwreck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-21 11:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6049515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alianovnaromanova/pseuds/alianovnaromanova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kate works at a comic book store, Clint is a jerk who uses Kate's laptop (he always brings coffee and donuts so it's ok), and Wade Wilson is the bane of Kate's existence. </p><p>(Now with more Kate drabbles, and a series on the way)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crappy Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Fully revised, working on a little addition, but please still comment for any requests regarding this AU which for some odd reason I'm extremely attached to it.

A regular day at a comic shop was usually a total train-wreck. If it wasn't asshole 20-somethings calling her "Babe" and testing her patience it was Clint stealing her laptop, or Wade knocking over displays and putting price tags on all the customers when they weren't looking. Kate still liked the job, though. 

 

  
Most of the time.

There was Cassie, one of Kate's best friends. They bonded over dog cops and a love of strong female comic book characters, and always went to see all female superhero movies together. Cassie would come in every week, buy the new Wonder Woman issue, and linger, chatting with Kate and flipping through back issues. She'd sometimes bring her friend Billy, the guy who spent thousands of dollars on comics (Kate started counting), wore only graphic t-shirts and galaxy pattern leggings, and who Teddy, her coworker, constantly drooled over until Billy asked him out for coffee. When Kate asked him any kinds of questions, he'd always give really weird answers, (such as, when she asked him how he managed to get adult sized light up batman sneakers, he shrugged and said "Uncle Pietro.")

Steve and Bucky were the owners of the coffee shop nearby. They came in after the morning coffee rush, browsed through back issues and fought over what super heroes would win in certain competitions ("Robin would totally beat Black Canary at Paintball! He's got that ninja boy thing going on."). Bucky came in once with his friend Natasha, a tall Russian woman who had an affection for Catwoman and Zatanna. She had short red hair she wore in a messy half bun and wore cargo jackets, leggings and ironic t-shirts ("world hot dog eating champion" read one, "Gumby for President!" another declared). Her accent was light, and she spoke Russian to Bucky.

Eli was an old friend, a boy who went to school with her. They used to date, and it felt as though the tension that came from their break up had finally dissolved. He collected old comics, and Kate made sure to save issues she knew he was looking for. He was a nice guy, he'd bring her lasagna when his grandmother made it the night before, packaged in red Tupperware. He sometimes included dessert, his grandma's famous brownies or cookies wrapped in a napkin and then tin foil, slightly crushed from being in Eli's bag. 

Peter was the teenaged photographer who came in for classic Superman and Flash reprints. He'd bring his camera and take pictures of the displays and inventory for his tumblr. He sometimes brought his boyfriend Wade, a destructive kid who ran around the shop. rearranging the inventory and displays to make innuendos, and bothered customers, and occasionally tried to convince Peter to photograph him doing risky shit like hanging off an exposed pipe (it was not decorative, and when it burst, the shop was closed down for a full week. Kate, who was very frustrated posted a sign on the door saying "The store is closed for the next week because a huge dumbass named Wade hing from an exposed pipe and broke it. All complaints and concerns can be sent to Wademaster@starkmail.com" (when she came back to work the following week, a small "sorry kate" was scrolled along the bottom in bright red glitter pen.).

Clint was her roommate, not really because she couldn't afford to live alone, but because Clint was also her best friend (she also strongly suspected he'd forget to eat or sleep or shower or drink things other than crappy beer and shitloads of coffee if she wasn't there to remind him how to be a human). He had weird hours, some days he'd be working 16 hours a day for three days then be off for a week, some weeks he was working 3 am to 6 am and then 7 pm to 11pm and he had weeks in which he wouldn't need to work. He'd spend his time hanging out at Steve and Bucky's coffee shop, or he would would hang out at the Comic shop when Kate was on her shift, sitting on the rafters, stealing Kate's laptop so he could play Dave Matthews Band and play Minecraft. Kate would kick him out, but he brought coffee and donuts. 

There was America, the cute girl who bought Batgirl, Black Canary, and Catwoman comics. She hung out at the shop after her trainer shifts at the gym, sitting on a stack of back issues and talking to (flirting with?) Kate. She had an unhealthy obsession with spicy food, and whenever she found out about some new spicy dish she'd bring some to the shop and make Kate try it with her and despite the fact that Kate had very low spice tolerance, she still ate it because she may or may not have a teeny crush on the cute Latina in the American flag jacket. She was still trying to work up the courage to ask her out. 

Still.


	2. The Chapter in Which Clint Gets Lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha gets Clint a dog, and Kate gets her Cheez-Its back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so there is a bad pun in the chapter title. And I'm also crap at writing. Enjoy anyway I suppose. 
> 
> (Also oh my god its been a year I'm so sorry.)

When Natasha visited Marvel Comics, she’d usually read a few pages of a title, snap it shut, and pay for it with only dollar bills and nickels. She never looked around too much, just went for the new releases, grabbed an issue, and stayed for a few minutes. Sometimes, when she was with Clint, she’d make fun of him, her dry humour making her point out cheesy superhero costumes and telling him that he would look great in that. She’d stay by his side, telling him about titles she picked up. Today, however, was different. She stormed in, ignored Teddy’s greeting, and stopped at the counter Kate was standing behind.

“What does Clint like?”

“Sleeping, stealing my laptop, eating my ice cream, sleeping, driving me nuts.” Kate said, “I could go on.”

“I am talking about material items, things I could buy. Preferably not on the black market, but that’s negotiable.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Um...He likes dog cops and spaghetti westerns? No, wait, the latter’s not a good idea, he watches them and thinks he can do impossible shit like jump out of a building or cook spaghetti.”

Natasha nodded and actually smiled. “He’s shit at both.”

“Right? If you’re going for comics he loves Green Arrow, but nothing with Black Canary, reminds him of an old nemesis. Or ex, or both, I don’t have the full story yet. Oh, and the Flash, since he could probably get pizza like ten times faster than your average person.” Kate gestured to a shelf near the front of the store, “There are a few newer volumes of both on that shelf,” and then pointed to a shelf further towards the back. “and vintage ones there, Flash is on the third shelf down, Green Arrow right below.”

“Thanks Kate.” Natasha said, and then promptly left.

+++

“Clint! I have your present!” Natasha yelled, the door clicking behind her.

“Natasha?” Kate popped her head into the living room where Natasha was standing in front of the door. “How did you get in? I locked the door last night.”

Natasha held up a paper clip and a nail file in response, a devilish smirk on her face. It was only then that Kate noticed the giant furball at Natasha’s feet.

“What is that?”

“I got Clint a dog!” Natasha smiled, almost giddy.

“Why?”

“You said he liked them.” she shrugged.

“Cops. He likes dog cops.” Kate put her head in her hand, and suppressed a loud groan.

“Oh. What about dogs?”

“I mean yeah, but we live in an apartment! I have no idea what the pet policy is!”

Natasha dug into her bag, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. “I talked to your landlord, there was a 600$ deposit that I took care of, the two of you had to sign a document, but I forged the signatures and you’re all good. By the way, your landlord wanted me to tell you he had your phone ready?”

“Yeah Tony’s good with tech so I asked him to fix my phone for me. But you forged our signatures? That’s kind of illegal.”

“Eh, that’s ok, I don't mind.” Natasha shrugs, and walks into the kitchen, “I’m getting a beer, you want one?” She asks.

“No, and what’s the dog’s name?” Kate asks, because if the dog’s here, she might as well accept it.

“I call him везучий” Natasha answers easily. “It’s Russian for lucky. I found him at a shelter that was about to close and had a few animals left that they would have had to euthanize.” Kate smiles at that, Natasha seems to have a soft spot for animals. “I got him for Clint, and there was a cat I adopted.”

“You adopted a cat?”

“Yes. Her name is Liho.” Natasha replies, walking back into the living room, with a beer in one hand, and a box of cheez-its in the other. Kate smirks at the latter.

“I knew he hid them!”

“Behind the Folgers.” Natasha tells her. “When will Clint be home anyway?”

“He’s asleep in his room, actually.” Kate tells her.

“I’ll be right back, then. Come on везучий.” Natasha tells her, gets up, and goes down the hallway towards Clint’s room, Lucky in tow.

+++

After about ten minutes of excited screeching and happy barking, Clint, holding Lucky like someone would hold a toddler and Natasha, wearing a smirk on her face, enter the living room. “The heck are you doing Barton?” Kate asks, gesturing to Lucky in his arms.

“I love him so much” Clint replies, his eyes getting a bit teary.

Kate smiles at his antics, and turns to Natasha. “We are going to PetCo to get Lucky some things, come with us?”

“No. I already went and got you things, they’re in my car. I just need help getting them.”

“You Natasha, are a saint.” Kate smiles at her, and gestures towards the door. "Clint, put the damn dog down and come help us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, Comment, you know the drill.


	3. How Far She's Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Kate got to where she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little background: Kate's backstory is pretty similar to 616 canon. She was born to socialite parents, she has a sister named Susan. 
> 
> Also there is a lil reference to a real world person in here.

Growing up, Kate’s life felt like a long-winded game that she could not conquer. To win, she needed to be the perfect daughter, the cute girl that was so well raised and well rounded. She had to make her parents look good, for raising a daughter that was such a perfect citizen.

So Kate went to the best schools in New York, getting straight A’s and never getting into a bit of trouble. She was put into ballet lessons, she learned archery and pretty much mastered it, she spoke four languages other than English (Spanish and French because they were very popular, and Filipino and Japanese because that’s where her parents were from.) She wore designer ensembles picked out by stylists and personal shoppers, and lived in a penthouse apartment bigger than any reasonable family of four could need.

Even after her mother died she was expected to play the role of the perfect mourning daughter, she gave a eulogy at her funeral, told a sweet, mostly fabricated anecdote about her mother and her painting each other’s nails (this was a very obvious lie, her mother wouldn’t be caught dead with nails painted by a kid) and highlighted her mother’s charity work. Susan did the same, talking about the two of them reading books together (another lie, the only person who read books with them was their nannies, and even that was rare). The family of three (and later, her new stepmother Heather) spent a year in mourning before they moved on, but not before the family opened The Eleanor Bishop Memorial Foundation (this was only created for good PR, and was pretty ineffective due to the people in charge being total dumbasses).

When Kate turned 18, she was expected to go to an Ivy League school, meet a nice son of a politician or a business magnate, quit college to marry the boy, and pop out a few mini socialites to raise to be just like her. It’s what she was supposed to do. Kate, unfortunately, hated playing by the rules. She tried to break them as much as she could without getting into trouble or getting caught. She would wear the wrong shoes with the wrong jewelry, she’d spill a glass of soda at charity galas, she’d get the occasional bad grade that angered her parents, but didn’t make them livid. This was enough, the little bits of rebellion that she savoured.

Until it wasn’t.

When Kate was 17, she was supposed to apply to Harvard, Yale, and Colombia. It was then that she realized that she wasn’t doing this because it was what she wanted, but instead it was what her father wanted her to do. She filled in the applications, wrote the essay, but she never actually sent in the applications. Instead, she decided to apply somewhere she actually wanted to go. So she applied to RISD, Pratt, and NYU. Also Brown, because it was an Ivy League school, but her father would drop dead before letting her go. The next few weeks while waiting for responses from the places she applied, and her father waited for the acceptance letters that would never come. After weeks of waiting, her father ended up calling some friends from the schools, and upon finding out that she never did, he spent two hours yelling at her for throwing her life away and embarrassing the family. Kate didn’t care, even though she got cut off almost entirely (she managed to fix this, by making a deal with her dad that she’d stay on the straight and narrow, keep her head down, not cause any scandal that would tarnish the family, in exchange for him restoring some of her trust fund so she could actually afford school).

She ended up studying illustration at RISD, graduating quietly, and moved to an up and coming neighborhood in Hell’s Kitchen, filled with small businesses and new families. She bought a comic shop called Marvelous Cartoons and Comics from an old man named Jack who was retiring, and remodeled it, and renamed it Marvel Comics. She spent a few months working on the store before hiring a guy named Teddy to help her out. She quickly became close with him, bonding over a love of Harry Potter and oldies. She befriended other people in the neighborhood, getting to know everyone and integrating herself into a community of people who were rough around the edges, sure, but who truly cared about each other. Her friends from Hell’s Kitchen: Clint, Teddy, Cassie, Billy, Jessica, Luke, America, she was closer to them than she ever was with her friends from school.

And she was finally happy, living life the way she wanted, and feeling happier than she ever was growing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler: The Jack Kate buys the shop from is Jack Kirby. Stan Lee gets cameos in MCU movies, Kirby gets one in my fic.


End file.
